Acts 15 - What a New Believer needs to know
- Gene Keener
- 21 hours ago
- 2 min read
Acts 15 – What a New Believer Needs to Know
Act 15:1
AND certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
Note this is a WRONG statement. Salvation is and has always been a matter of trust in Messiah’s actions, not gained by self-promotion.
Israel rescued from Egypt and THEN received instructions.
Act 15:5
But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."
These were believers in Jesus who were still of the party of the Pharisees. They wanted to require all Gentiles to convert to a religiously Pharisaical-Jewish lifestyle. This requirement goes far beyond Biblical commandments.
Law of Moses – at that time and now, Jewish tradition says Moses received Oral Torah (traditions) along with the written Torah (instructions, Bible) on Mt Sinai. By saying ‘Law of Moses,’ both are included in their religious requirement.
Act 15:11
"But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they."
Starting at verse 7, Peter explains the Gentiles were accepted by God, as Gentiles, and given the Spirit, without the requirement of religious conversion. He also admits even native-born Jews cannot earn salvation by perfect adherence to the commandments or the traditions of Pharisee-ism. Thus, all are accepted by God only by faith in His graceful arrangement of atonement through Yeshua.
Nu…how should we live now that we are saved? Do we continue living as we did before?
Act 15:19
"Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
Act 15:20
"but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21
"For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."
James acknowledges salvation is not from self-promotion and agrees to not require Gentile conversion to Pharisaic-Jewish religious practice. But he then advises the Gentiles to stop idolatrous activities so they would be welcomed into a local synagogue, and from there begin to learn the holy lifestyle.
Very important! Learning to live by God’s commandments is not to be seen as an attempt to earn salvation, but is the natural response by the one who has been saved. Romans 12.1-2
What commandments should we learn to live? Where do we start?
Exodus 20
Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.3-21
Leviticus 23
Why are these commands so important?
These are God’s directions for a holy lifestyle.
By doing these (and all the others available to you) you declare with your life God is real and needs to be taken seriously.
Your testimony has power if your words and actions agree.
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